Franchising God’s Favor

During the last six months, I have spoken to many people who have been hurt by the church. It seems like every time I turn around, someone is crying (screaming, yelling…) out about the pain they’ve endured at the hands of the church or the people who run it.

Several months ago, I had a conversation with one such individual who said that in his church, the leadership actually threatened the removal of God’s favor on his life if he continued to do things differently. It’s almost like the leadership of his church believed that they held the distribution rights for the local supply of the favor of God.

“If you leave, the favor of God will leave you,” said one of Bill’s local leaders, before continuing, “and I don’t want to tell you what I see over you, but it isn’t pretty…”

Bill pressed him to finish his statement, but his leader still refrained. “A prophet is only to share about 10% of what he hears from the Lord. The rest is just for him to know,” informed the leader. Not satisfied, Bill insisted that the pastor share the prophetic vision, and ‘reluctantly’ his pastor complied, “I actually see that darkness is surrounding you, that there is a presence of death behind you…”

Bill put his hand up and interrupted the conversation. Once Bill realized that this ‘word of knowledge’ was nothing more than emotional manipulation, a last ditch effort to scare him back into the fold, he ended the meeting, and took the necessary steps to remove himself from the unhealthy situation he was in.

Within weeks Bill actually felt God’s love and favor more, not less, as was threatened. I’ve heard story after story that run parallel to this one. God is after your heart, not your sunday school attendance. For me personally, the opportunity to pursue him freely, uninhibited by the constraints of the institutional church has been a liberating, life-changing experience. But it won’t work for everyone, and may only be a seasonal thing for me. Who knows? God knows. And He is good, and has good things in store for those who love Him follow His call. So that’s good news. (Romans 8:28)

What about your story? How have you been hurt? Are you okay now? How did you recover? What advice can you offer? Write to me at stories@churchburned.com.